A great deal of food products are shipped and stored in glass jars with metal lids. While such a storage method has worked well for years and will likely be around for many more years in the future, it is not without its disadvantages. Perhaps the biggest of these disadvantages is the difficulty encountered when opening the jar for the first time. Even the strongest of us sometimes have difficulty in open such jar lids and must resort to aids such as flexible grippers, rapping the lid with a table knife handle, or similar actions. However such aids still rely on physical strength and/or are not effective. Such efforts are difficult and waste time for the even the strongest person, but those who are elderly, disabled, small in stature, or those with reduced diminished strength find the task impossible. Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which jars can be opened in an easy manner without the disadvantages as listed above. The development of the invention herein described fulfills this need.
A particular problem arises from jars that have been used for canning. These jars are made of glass. Inserting a table knife between the lid and the glass container can cause the jar to break or at least chip, resulting in a possible injury. These jars are difficult to open with available means such as a gripping pad. The use of the device described herein will greatly aid those attempting to open jars that have been used for canning.
There have been attempts made in the past to develop openers for jars. U.S. Pat. No. D 440,842 issued to Vandergaw discloses a jar opener that appears to comprise a pair of gripping surfaces that attach to the lateral surfaces of a jar lid and utilize a handle to torque the lid from the jar. Unfortunately, this design patent does not appear to be similar in appearance to the disclosed device, nor does it appear to disclose a jar lid opener that is capable of utilizing a hook and a handle to remove the vacuum from a jar before applying rotational force to a jar lid.
U.S. Pat. No. D 371,287 issued to Gilbert appears to disclose a pair of pliers for a drain nut. Unfortunately, this design patent does not appear to be similar in appearance to the disclosed device, nor does it appear to disclose a jar lid opener that is capable of utilizing a hook and a handle to remove the vacuum from a jar before applying rotational force to a jar lid.
U.S. Pat. No. D 350,264 issued to Friend appears to disclose a traditional jar opener that punctures the lid of a can or jar with a handle that appears to be capable of reducing pressure inside of a jar. Unfortunately, this design patent does not appear to be similar in appearance to the disclosed device, nor does it appear to be capable of applying rotational torque to a jar lid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,485 Wu appears to disclose a container lid opener comprising a lever arm, a support arm, and a grasp block that encircles a jar lid to provide rotational torque for removal of said lid. Unfortunately, this patent does not appear to disclose a jar lid opener that comprises a hook that may be used to reduce pressure within a jar and to consequently make the application of rotational force to torque the jar lid open easier.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,213 issued to Kolacinski discloses a holding device that appears to be a similar to a pair of pliers with a movable plate on the upper arm. Unfortunately, this patent does not appear to disclose a jar lid opener that comprises an upper jaw assembly, a hook, and a handle to vent air into a jar and permit the application of rotational torque to open a jar lid.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,931,258 issued to Ronning discloses an opener for screw caps that appears to be a device that permits width adjustment for various jar lids and uses rotational torque to remove the lids. Unfortunately, this patent does not appear to be similar in appearance to the disclosed device, nor does it appear to disclose a jar lid opener that is capable of utilizing a hook and a handle to remove the vacuum from a jar before applying rotational force to a jar lid.
U.S. Pat. No. 894,626 issued to Givens appears to disclose a jar opener comprising a pair of handles attached to a gripping section that are applied laterally about a jar lid for the application of rotational torque to open a jar. Unfortunately, this patent does not appear to disclose a jar lid opener that comprises a hook that may be used to reduce pressure within a jar and to consequently make the application of rotational force to torque the jar lid open easier.
None of the prior art particularly describes a device to aid in opening jars comprising an upper jaw designed to press down in a center area of a lid while a lower jaw presses upward on an edge or rim of the lid, thereby breaking a seal of the jar and making it easier for a user to open the lid that the instant invention possesses. Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which jars can be opened in an easy manner that operates without the disadvantages as described above.